God Bless America

Absolutely.

REVERB

Pronunciation: \ri-ˈvərb, ˈrē-ˌ\

Function: noun

Etymology: short for reverberation

Date: 1953: an electronically produced echo effect in recorded music ; also : a device for producing reverb

I don't know if he's echoing, but he's definitely got something going on. This is Pastor Ryan. This is Reverb.

Get addicted, like I have, to Ryan's blog. He's different. He's cool. He has lots of, um, I don't know how to describe his photos. Love them. He's got a cute little kid and a cute wife. A full life. Tattoos. He doesn't mince words. He's a man of God. He's funny. And he'll put you off milk for a while.


I leave you with one of my favorite things. I love windows.

Fall Fun Shoot

Oh wow - what a gorgeous day for a shoot. DS's first shoot. It was a "fun shoot," with about 15 or so kids between about 10 yrs old and 18 yrs old. Here's DS, loaded for bear. (Well, it's not loaded, 'cause you never load it until you're ready to shoot, and it wasn't for bear - it was for clay targets. But you get the picture.)


The kids had a blast. There were bronze, silver and gold medals for shooting, and 3 huge trophies awarded for Sportsmanship, Safety, and Team Building. DS won the trophy for Team Building. But I have to say, every kid there deserved a trophy. They were super safe, and everyone tried to encourage everyone else. But guess who won the Team Building trophy! Yeah! DS! A bronze for shooting and the Team Building trophy. He's a great kid. They have the best coach ever, too.

Got a little - emphasis on little - knitting done while I was there, between shots. My LSU Jaywalker scarf, inspired by TurtleGirl.

The color's just a bit off - couldn't get it just right. Of course it's purple and gold, Lorna's Laces sock, snared from Knits by Nana. I like the alternating pools & stripes.

But I'm sooooo sloooooww. I win the limbo of slow. You know, how slow can you go. Me. I win.

Summer - Where has it gone? (If you're in Texas, it's still hangin' around...)

SUMMER is for...
It's birthdays (here's the purse DD gave me).

DH and DS gave me a gift certificate to one of my LYS's - where the heck do I start with that? Maybe I'll pick up in the middle of those Great American Afgan classes...

It's tons of birthdays, actually. Me. Husband's niece's husband. FIL. SIL. Great nephews (2 of them). Friends (quite a few - Cathy, I love you!). Co-workers.

When I was a kid, no one had an August birthday except me. I thought it was strange that only I should have a birthday during the summer. Now everyone does.

I've only just starting knitting again. I had a rotator cuff repair in July. Oh, honey, it hurts. I'd rather have a baby, any day. My doctor starts physical therapy the day after surgery, and I've been at it 3 days a week since then. And at home. So now I can knit and I don't know what to knit first. Or rather, what to finish first. The denim bag for DH? The school-colors scarf for soccer this winter? Start the tank top I never got around to? How about finishing that Noni bag I started ages ago?

My intentions are good. I spend oodles of time on Ravelry looking for just the right pattern to inspire me. I have to stop looking. I'm overwhelmed.

So instead, I spend time wishing I could be organized. Like this.

Or this.

Right.

It hurts to knit

Nuts. I'm trying to finish this little drawstring bag thingy knit in Rowan Denim, for my daughter, but it hurts to knit. I want to knit this quick little snuggle-toy thingy for a friend's baby, but it hurts to knit. Then I found the cutest washcloth with everyone's favorite mouse on it (here), and I thought that would be really cute for the baby, too, but - yeah.

Now, it's kind of a joke around my house about my being sort of klutzy. I've sprained my right ankle twice in adulthood. Once when I was trying to do one of those jump in the air and kick your heels together moves for my daughter when she was little, and we were watching Pete's dragon and dancing along. Then once in New Mexico when we were walking down to the lake to fish - the water had washed away the sand below the steps, and I didn't know it until it was too late. Wow. That was fun. We finished our camping trip, drove to Carlsbad Caverns and I waited for the DH and kids to go through the caves, then drove the umpteen hours home with a foot the size of a basketball.

And let's not talk about all the times I've fallen and taken the skin off my hands and knees. And raised up under DD's loft bed and whacked my head full force on the bed. And all those other things.

I tore my rotator cuff in April. It hurts. Let me take this opportunity to thank every one who has told me how much the surgery for it hurts. I appreciate that, I really do. I have a pretty high tolerance for pain (I think I do, anyway), but it's the inconvenience of it all that I really dread. Who has time for that? And all that physical therapy? Oh, and one person said I'd have to sleep sitting up. Great. I'll have to prop myself up like a baby so I won't fall off our waist-high bed. 'Cause if anyone would fall out of the bed, it would be me.

Well, this has really put a damper on knitting. Even if I hold my left hand still and just move my right hand, it still hurts and gets really tired really fast. It's the holding the needle, I guess. It's amazing how many muscles we use for such small movements. I was really hoping to take a shot at a clay target soon, since DS is learning that now, but that will have to wait. What a pain.

Maybe I'll get my camera back soon and be inspired to try my Photoshop Elements 6 - finally. Nothing else to do, huh? I'll go through Pioneer Woman's entire photography section and try out everything that will work in PE. And I'll get to keep up with ALL of her give-aways! PW, I love you!

And here are a couple of shots (pardon the pun) of DH, going through one of his exercises.




You can't see the shotgun, but somehow I timed the shot (camera shot) just as he hit the targets. You can see the dirt flying. This is a great sport, lots of family oriented atmosphere, and fun. We'll talk about it at a later time.

Meanwhile - Proverbs 3:7 Acknowledge Him in all your ways, and He will direct your paths.

Out of sight, out of mind

Well, there aren't many who would argue the out of mind part.

I started off this blog thinking oh boy, I'm gonna have me a blog no one can resist. Yeah huh. Even I can resist it. I just haven't had the oomph to get to it. Maybe 'cause my camera's on the fritz and I've sent it in for repairs. I upgraded my Photoshop Elements, but I haven't even had the patience to stick with that! I really must get off my duff...

Prom is over. She was beautiful. She always is, but she was a knock out. She and the date looked fabulous. It was all worth it. The shopping, and the arguing, and the money. Secretly, I loved it. As a mom, I enjoyed (almost) everything about it. I'm loaded for bear now - bring on her senior prom!

DS continues to improve his trap skills, even though he only gets to practice Saturdays. He actually won the last little game they played - he was the only one out of the four of them there that day to get the last 3 in a row - and the others are in their teens and have been shooting longer. We need to join the trap & skeet club and get a good shotgun and a coach so that he can practice more often. His 4-H coach is phenomenal, so it will be difficult to choose someone to compliment him.

Found a new group on Ravelry - GRITS. Girls Raised in the South. I love this group! If you're from the South, you'll understand. There are just so many things that most of the world doesn't understand about the South! Have a visit to the group and you'll see what I mean. It's just a magic of it's own...

I get to use the word "ain't"

I never had a problem with my daughter using the word "ain't." We told her it was improper English, so she didn't use it. Now mind you, I grew up with the word "ain't." It was older than me, of course (oh, pardon me - it was older than I), but it didn't really bother me or pick at me or anything. We weren't close. Maybe I used it. Maybe I didn't. But it lived in my house.

Then my son came along. For a long time (relatively speaking, in an 11-yr old frame of reference) he didn't use the word "ain't." Then all of a sudden he'd pop out with it. "Since when did you use the word "ain't?" ('Cause in my day, as they say, they would always say (ooo, I like that) "ain't" ain't a word.) So a few times of that and he was good. No more ain't.

But me. I've paid my dues. I have good manners. I know how to "act like I've been some place" as they say. I don't say "ain't" in front of my kids. But sometimes - get this - I say "ain't."

Mmmm hm. Yup. Sure do. Now it's not a part of my every day vocabulary. I use it mostly for effect. I like to have effect. You have to reserve some things or they won't have any effect. My favorite line is, "That ain't gonna do it, sheriff." Test - who knows where that quote comes from?

I say "that ain't gonna do it sheriff" when one my kids doesn't take out the trash. (oops - busted. Guess I do say the word "ain't" in front of my kids. heh heh) Or if I want to make sure someone at work understands that I'm absolutely, unequivocally not going to do something, I might use the word "ain't." Have to watch who's around, though. Don't want to damage my professional image or anything, right?

Hey, you know what? Ain't. Ha. I said it. I have a couple of questions, though. Why do we say "the word 'ain't'?" (Well, I use that phrase. I don't know about you. But for the sake of argument...) And why, when it's a word we shouldn't use, do we "use" it instead of "say" it? You know. "Excuse me, Snicklefritz, we don't use that word." Ever notice that? Or is it just me, once again? I'd really like to know.

Oh, and just so you'll know, I really frown on the use of the word "ain't." Especially by anyone under the age of 18. Especially.